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Democratic Socialists of America Urges Kamala Harris Not to Pick Josh Shapiro for VP Slot, Citing Israel Support
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) holds a rally in support of US Vice President Kamala Harris’ Democratic presidential election campaign in Ambler, Pennsylvania, US, July 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Rachel Wisniewski
The Philadelphia chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is urging presumptive US Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris not to select Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) as her running mate, citing his support for Israel as a key reason.
The local DSA chapter issued a statement this past weekend on the “ongoing media blitz for Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.” The organization argued that Shapiro’s alleged failure to fight for “Palestinian rights” and his support for the “Zionist project in Palestine” should disqualify him from consideration for the Democratic presidential ticket.
“To win in November, Kamala Harris and the Democrats need a vice president who will fight for Palestinian rights, back public schools, protect workers, and defend free speech. Governor Shapiro isn’t hitting those high notes,” DSA wrote.
“Governor Shapiro is an outspoken supporter of the Zionist project in Palestine, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of Palestinians and the displacement of millions more,” DSA added.
Shapiro, a practicing Jew, has positioned himself as a staunch supporter of Israel. In the days following Hamas’ brutal slaughter of roughly 1,200 people across southern Israel on Oct. 7, Shapiro issued statements condemning the Palestinian terrorist group and gave a speech at a local synagogue. The governor also ordered the US and Pennsylvania Commonwealth flags to fly at half mast outside the state capitol to honor the victims.
Shapiro has condemned protests against Israeli- and Jewish-owned businesses in Pennsylvania as “antisemitic” and resisted demands to call for a “ceasefire” in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. The governor revised the state codes of conduct to bar government employees from participating in “scandalous or disgraceful” behavior.
DSA claimed that Shapiro’s disapproval of the anti-Israel protests that erupted on US university campuses this past spring made him unfit for the Democratic presidential ticket, arguing that his opposition indicated a lack of support for free speech rights.
“Governor Shapiro regularly equates anti-Zionism and organizing against the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians to antisemitism,” DSA continued. “He’s also compared student protestors to the Ku Klux Klan — a wild comparison — and has been busy fighting against the right to boycott and curtailing free speech. Plus, let’s not forget his love for cracking down on peaceful encampments in our city.”
During an April interview with CNN host Jake Tapper, Shapiro forcefully condemned the pro-Hamas protests on university campuses, questioning “whether or not we would tolerate this if this were people dressed up in KKK outfits or KKK regalia, making comments about people who are African American in our communities.”
Shapiro also criticized then-University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill for her unwillingness to punish anti-Israel demonstrators, some of whom declared support for Hamas, called for the destruction of Israel, and even threatened members of the campus’ Jewish community.
DSA asserted that “Shapiro’s pro-war stance, anti-Palestinian views” will alienate the “young and diverse voters who Kamala Harris’ bid for president has revitalized.”
“We will continue to call on Harris and Democrats to push for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine and to adopt a progressive agenda to energize their base and beat back the looming threat of fascism,” DSA wrote. “Josh Shapiro is not the right man for this job. To keep the momentum going, the Democrats must select a candidate who is strong on these issues.”
DSA, a left-wing political organization that counts members of the US Congress among its ranks, recently pulled its endorsement of US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) over what it described as insufficient support for the Palestinian cause.
The decision came about two weeks after a caucus affiliated with DSA issued a public endorsement of Hamas.
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Israel Agrees to Talks on Lebanon Border, to Free Five Lebanese, PM Office Says
An Israeli flag flies in Lebanon, near the Israel-Lebanon border, following the ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, as seen from Metula, northern Israel, Dec. 3, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov
Israel said on Tuesday it had agreed to hold talks to demarcate its border with Lebanon, adding it would release five Lebanese detainees held by the Israeli military in what it called a “gesture to the Lebanese president.”
A statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel had agreed with Lebanon, the US, and France to establish working groups to discuss the demarcation line between the two countries.
Though Israel has largely withdrawn from southern Lebanon under a ceasefire deal agreed in November, its troops continue to hold five hilltop positions in the area with airstrikes in southern Lebanon citing what it described as Hezbollah activity.
The ceasefire deal ended more than a year of conflict between Israel‘s military and the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah that was playing out in parallel with the Gaza war.
The fighting peaked in a major Israeli air and ground campaign in southern Lebanon that left Hezbollah badly weakened, with most of its military command killed in Israeli strikes.
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UN Security Council to Meet Over Iran’s Growing Stockpile of Near-Bomb-Grade Uranium
Members of the Security Council cast a vote during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York, US, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/David Dee Delgado
The United Nations Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Wednesday over Iran’s expansion of its stock of uranium close to weapons grade, diplomats said on Monday.
The meeting was requested by six of the council’s 15 members – France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, Britain, and the US.
They also want the council to discuss Iran’s obligation to provide the UN nuclear watchdog – the International Atomic Energy Agency – with “the information necessary to clarify outstanding issues related to undeclared nuclear material detected at multiple locations in Iran,” diplomats said.
Iran’s mission to the UN in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the planned meeting.
Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, it is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade level, the IAEA has warned.
Western states say there is no need to enrich uranium to such a high level under any civilian program and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.
Iran reached a deal in 2015 with Britain, Germany, France, the US, Russia, and China – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – that lifted sanctions on Tehran in return for restrictions on its nuclear program.
Washington quit the agreement in 2018 during Donald Trump’s first term as US president, and Iran began moving away from its nuclear-related commitments.
Britain, France, and Germany have told the UN Security Council that they are ready – if needed – to trigger a so-called snap back of all international sanctions on Iran to prevent the country from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
They will lose the ability to take such action on Oct. 18 this year when the 2015 UN resolution on the deal expires. US President Donald Trump has directed his UN envoy to work with allies to snap back international sanctions and restrictions on Iran.
The post UN Security Council to Meet Over Iran’s Growing Stockpile of Near-Bomb-Grade Uranium first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Entire Families Killed in Syria’s Military Crackdown, UN Says
A man inspects a damaged car in Latakia, after hundreds were reportedly killed in some of the deadliest violence in 13 years of civil war, pitting loyalists of deposed President Bashar al-Assad against the country’s new Islamist rulers, Syria, March 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Haidar Mustafa
Entire families including women and children were killed in Syria’s coastal region as part of a series of sectarian killings by the army against an insurgency by Bashar al-Assad loyalists, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday.
Pressure has been growing on Syria’s Islamist-led government to investigate after reports by a war monitor of the killing of hundreds of civilians in villages where the majority of the population were members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect.
“In a number of extremely disturbing instances, entire families – including women, children, and individuals hors de combat – were killed, with predominantly Alawite cities and villages targeted in particular,” UN human rights office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said, using a French term for those incapable of fighting.
So far, the UN human rights office has documented the killing of 111 civilians and expects the real toll to be significantly higher, Al-Kheetan told a Geneva press briefing. Of those, 90 were men; 18 were women; and three were children, he added.
“Many of the cases documented were of summary executions. They appear to have been carried out on a sectarian basis,” Al-Kheetan told reporters. In some cases, men were shot dead in front of their families, he said, citing testimonies from survivors.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk welcomed an announcement by Syria’s Islamist-led government to create an accountability committee and called for those investigations to be prompt, thorough, independent, and impartial, the spokesperson added.
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